{"id":10372,"date":"2016-05-31T03:37:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T10:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reasons.org\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st.-thomas-aquinas\/"},"modified":"2016-05-31T03:37:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T10:37:00","slug":"christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-thomas-aquinas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/christianity\/history\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-thomas-aquinas","title":{"rendered":"Christian Thinkers 101: A Crash Course on St. Thomas Aquinas"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-norm\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2\">\n<!-- CONTENT BEGINS --><br \/>\n<!-- Facebook Pixel Code --><br \/>\n<script>\n\t\t\t\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n\t\t\t\t\t{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\t\t\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n\t\t\t\t\tif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n\t\t\t\t\tn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n\t\t\t\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n\t\t\t\t\ts.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n\t\t\t\t\t'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\t\t\t\tfbq('init', '176381006060240');\n\t\t\t\t\tfbq('track', 'PageView');\n\t\t\t\t<\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" style=\"display:none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tr?id=176381006060240&#038;ev=PageView&#038;noscript=1\"\/><\/noscript><br \/>\n<!-- End Facebook Pixel Code --><br \/>\n<script>\n\t\t\t\t\tfbq('track', 'ViewContent', {\n\t\t\t\t\t\tvalue: 1,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tcurrency: 'usd',\n\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Thomas Aquinas\u2019s system of thought was declared the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church, but what exactly did he believe, and what else did he contribute to Christianity? Here\u2019s your crash course on the life and accomplishments of St. Thomas Aquinas\u2014and why he still matters today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who Was St. Thomas?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>St. Thomas Aquinas (1225\u20131274) was born in a castle near Naples, Italy, in the High Middle Ages. The priests and monks of the Benedictine order within the Catholic Church educated him. Though his parents opposed him becoming a priest, he subsequently joined the Dominican order. While some of his fellow students called him \u201cthe dumb ox\u201d as a youth, Thomas may have been the most intelligent Christian in history. For accomplishments within a lifespan that was just short of 50 years, he was honored as the most important philosopher and theologian within the entire Roman Catholic tradition. Thomas was a philosophical and theological genius but still amazingly humble. There is a story that toward the end of his life, Thomas experienced a mystical vision that made him view everything he had written as \u201cstraw worthy to be burned.\u201d Now that must have been an incredible vision!<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Did St. Thomas Write?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Though he was a prolific author and wrote commentaries on biblical, theological, and philosophical topics, Thomas\u2019s two most important apologetics-related books are <em>Summa Theologica<\/em> and <em>Summa Contra Gentiles<\/em>. In the first, he uses Aristotelian philosophy as a framework for explaining and defending Christian theism. In the second, he defends Catholic Christianity in light of the Greco-Arabic (Islamic) worldview challenge.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"f05e6c47-1f86-66f3-b463-ff00002b9606\" data-displaymode=\"Original\" alt=\"blog__inline\u2014crash-course-aquinas\" class=\"img-responsive\" title=\"blog__inline\u2014crash-course-aquinas\" \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Did St. Thomas Believe?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christians of various traditions continue to utilize several of St. Thomas Aquinas\u2019s apologetic arguments. Perhaps his three most important ideas or arguments for historic Christianity are the following:<\/p>\n<p>1. Thomas devised five arguments\u2014known as <a href=\"https:\/\/web.mnstate.edu\/gracyk\/courses\/web%20publishing\/aquinasFiveWays_ArgumentAnalysis.htm\">the Five Ways<\/a>\u2014for the existence of God: motion, first cause, contingency, perfection, and teleology. Christian philosopher and evangelical Thomist Norman Geisler summarizes Thomas\u2019s Argument from Contingent Beings thusly: (a) some things exist but can not exist (i.e. possible beings); (b) and something has always existed; (c) but possible beings do not ground themselves; (d) therefore, there must be a necessary being.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>2. Thomas believed that faith and reason were compatible. While natural reason alone is insufficient to discover the truths of divine revelation (Trinity, Incarnation, etc.), the divinely revealed truths themselves are not contrary to natural reason.<\/p>\n<p>3. Thomas maintained that language about God is to be understood analogically (both like and unlike human applications). For example, when the Bible speaks of God as \u201cFather,\u201d is that term being used univocally (same as a human father), equivocally (different from a human father), or analogically (both like and unlike a human father)?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why Does St. Thomas Matter Today?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>St. Thomas was criticized by some for using Aristotelian philosophy to explain the Christian worldview (in negative terms \u201cChristianizing Aristotle\u2019s God\u201d). But while a number of Aristotle\u2019s views are in clear conflict with Christian theism, Christians of various traditions think Thomas\u2019s synthesis was masterful. \u201cDoctor Angelicus,\u201d as he was called, was the greatest Christian thinker of the Medieval (scholastic) period. His system of thought, known as \u201cThomism,\u201d was declared by Pope Leo XIII to be the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic Church. Canonized as a saint in 1323, Thomas Aquinas was truly one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of all time.<\/p>\n<p>Evangelicals show a Thomistic influence when they appeal to formal arguments to attempt to support God\u2019s existence and when they appeal to analogies to explain human language about God. It is not just Catholics who have been influenced by St. Thomas\u2019s incredible mind.<\/p>\n<p><em>Other articles in the Christian Thinkers 101 series: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st.-augustine\">St. Augustine<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-cs-lewis\">C. S. Lewis<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-blaise-pascal\">Blaise Pascal<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-anselm\">St. Anselm<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-athanasius\">St. Athanasius<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-jonathan-edwards\">Jonathan Edwards<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-soren-kierkegaard\">S\u00f8ren Kierkegaard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-bonaventure\">St. Bonaventure<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-martin-luther\">Martin Luther<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-john-calvin\">John Calvin<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-irenaeus\">Irenaeus<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-tertullian\">Tertullian<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-st.-basil\">St. Basil<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-st.-jerome\">St. Jerome<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-justin-martyr\">Justin Martyr<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-walter-martin\">Walter Martin<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-ronald-nash\">Ronald Nash<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/blogs\/reflections\/christian-thinkers-101--a-crash-course-on-mortimer-adler\">Mortimer Adler<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reflections: Your Turn<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Given Thomas Aquinas\u2019s famous five proofs for the existence of God, what do you consider to be the best argument for the God of Christian theism? Visit <em>Reflections<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/reflectionsbyken.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/31\/christian-thinkers-101-a-crash-course-on-st-thomas-aquinas\/\">on WordPress<\/a> to comment with your response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For an introduction to his work, see <em>A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas: A Handbook for Peeping Thomists<\/em> by Ralph McInerny.<\/li>\n<li>To begin reading Thomas\u2019s writings, see <em>Aquinas\u2019s Shorter Summa: St. Thomas Aquinas\u2019s Own Concise Version of His Summa Theologica<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>For analysis of St. Thomas Aquinas\u2019s life and thoughts, see <em>A History of Apologetics<\/em> by Avery Dulles.<\/li>\n<li>For a Protestant perspective on Aquinas and his work, see <em>Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal<\/em> by Norman L. Geisler.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<h5>Endnotes<\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li>Norman Geisler, <em>Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), 120.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/give.reasons.org\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/reasonstobelieve\/files\/store\/banners\/CCT_WebBanner.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore St. Thomas Aquinas&#8217;s life, key theological contributions, and his lasting impact on Christian apologetics and philosophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_person_authors":[],"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_scheduled":false},"categories":[63978,63975],"tags":[70606,69475,69427],"discipline":[64118],"reading-level":[64149],"class_list":["post-10372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-beliefs-values","tag-christian-faith","tag-biodiversity","tag-faith-and-reason","discipline-philosophy","reading-level-advanced-deep-dive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - 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